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The ban issued by FIFA yesterday states that Barcelona did not make things well when signing talented youngsters. In fact, although FIFA prohibits to sign under 16 years old players within the clubs country and under 18 international players, the club has always be proud about his ability to recruit talented children. “La Masia”, a kind of college where children life, learn and play football, has been always praised as the true reason for the professional team’s success.

Barcelona violated the Spanish legislation thanks to a very simple trick. If it is prohibited to take a child out of his family and environment, they give a new job to his parents and thus the family has a reason to move to Barcelona. There is no more illegality.

However, many players, like Iniesta, lived alone in “La Masia” and have admitted that although the effort was worthy, they used to feel alone, cry and miss their parents.
It seems that Barcelona has been using this trick also with players from all around the world, including some Korean players, whose case has become the “casus belli” for FIFA to act against Barcelona and hand a transfer ban.

Taking a child out of his city or country with the promise to become a football star is quite questionable. And also illegal, but very few times football institutions or justice interfere in those cases.

At last they have decided to stop this practises, but press and people from Barcelona argue a persecution against the team.

The team that brought football into perfection and was admired worldwide, with children from all around the world changing their Manchester United, Real Madrid or Milan t-shirt for the ones with the number Messi, is not as honest and clean as people thought.

First justice accused mega star Leo Messi of tax fraud. The player did not seem to be very eager to pay taxes in the country that has make him multimillionaire since he came to Barcelona (oh, surprise), as a 13 years old children.

Then former team’s president Sandro Rosell lied and cheated claiming that Neymar’s signing cost was 57.1m of Euros. That number was not only a lie (it cost around 90m Euros) for Barcelona supporters but also hide a 9.1m euro tax fraud. And the player’s father earned around 40 millions in the transaction.

That case showed the dark practises used by Barcelona at financial issued and both with the bad treatment that two seriously ill players like Pete Mickael,and Eric Abidal received, being ejected in a bad manner with a very few recognition, make clear how things are made lately in the team.

Barcelona is not that fair, clean and honorable club that many defended as an example for the others. Barcelona is a club like many others, with his bright side and also a dark side. Although supporters prefer to blind their eyes and blame Madrid, press or FIFA it is clear that things are not being done as it should be lately in Barcelona and some are starting to claim elections to try to change the course of latter events.

In football, as in other many team sports, some collect the glory that has been sowed by many. Pep Guardiola’s super-team made history by winning everything and playing a football that had never seen before. Ultra offensive systems, keeping ball possession throughout the match and heading always towards the rivals goal were the DNA of that team. Xavi, Iniesta and above all Messi were praised as responsible of that wonderful style, covered by individual awards and venerated by press and sport fans.

But the most offensive team ever remembered had never succeeded if the defence did not have such level. And that team was able to play that way because defenders where at least as outstanding as attackers and Carles Puyol have much to do with that. There is no doubt looking at his achievements that he is one of the best defenders of football history. 6 Spanish Leagues, 3 Champions Leagues, 2 Cups, a European Championship and, above all, a World Championship where a header goal of him allowed Spain to beat Germany are his career’s highlights. But he was more than just an outstanding player playing for winner teams.
Puyol has been the most intense player ever seen on the pitch. He always focused on detail, trying to correct mistakes and wrong positions and, above all, never loosing his intensity, his hunger for winning more and more and never surrendering in adverse situations. He was a true leader, that ruled in the dress room by a exemplary behaviour.

He never let Barcelona fall into snub towards the rival. If a teammate celebrated a goal in a depreciative manner, he came to him, running, and stopped the situation. You can not remember a bad behaviour from him; he never looked down on a rival and always used effort, hard work and fair play for success. Even to overcome the uncountable injuries that punished him during his long career.

He will leave Barcelona at the end of the season and the story of this terrific player at the top level will see his end. Puyol is and example of what a professional athlete must be for everything described above and although in a few years to come people will remember Messi’s and Iniesta’s Barcelona, the most fanatic fans of football will record that the one that protected the back of those players was an extraordinary defender that played for Barcelona during 15 years and felt the t-shirt probably more than anyone before.

Who could imagine Pellegrini choosing defensive players to face Barcelona and after being defeated blaming the referee for the whole responsibility. City’s coach played Mourinho’s role yesterday, using the same strategy that the Portuguese used when he faced Barcelona during his 3 years in Spain. Defenssive teams plus blaming external determining factors.

Pellegrini changed first his style placing Kolarov as a midfielder and reinforcing his left wing, where Alves and Messi are supposed to move. He also gave the ball to the Spanish team, barely having the ball possession and confining the home team to defend and not to lose the game. That intimidating City, with two strikers and hunger for possesion and domination did not appear on the pitch. The plan was not to lose.

But what most defined Mourinho’s tyle during his stay in Spain was that he blamed the referee or any external factor when he failed. No self-criticism ever. And that is exactly what Pellegrini made yesterday in the post-match press conference. Blame the referee, for what he may be charged by UEFA, and not only by saying that he made mistakes, but saying that he favoured Barcelona on purpose. Such serious accusations are not usual in football as most assume that referee sometimes favours you and others harms.

Pellegrini also copied Mourinho in the League game against Mourinho’s Chelsea, where he placed Demichelis as a midfielder,like the Portuguese did with Pepe in big games. The result was again disappointing.

It is not the first time that Pellegrini blames the referee for a big defeat in Europe. Last year, when he reached quarter finals with Malaga, with the spanish team fighting expulsion from the following season’s European competition Pellegrini said that “It was difficult for a banned team to reach the semi-finals”.

Manchester City has spent hundreds of million in order to get Champions League glory and once they overcome the groups phase, they will go no further as it seem impossible to get back in the draw. Their image yesterday was poor, but the worst was to watch Pellegrini charging against the referee instead of having picked a more offensive squad to dominate the game and seek the victory, as they did in most of Premier League games.

Theo Walcott’s injury, that will take him out of the pitch for almost 6 months, may seem a terrific new for the Gunners. And in fact it is, as comparing him with his fellows he has some skills that few of the other attacking players have (like speed or ability to use spaces, as he is the only pure winger of the team). But in Wenger’s hands is to turn this problem into an opportunity.

Walcott’s injury time could allow to change positions thay may benefit the team’s play. For example, Cazorla would play as right winger and Wilsherse on the left. This way Ramsey, Cazorla, Ozil and Wilshere could be on the pitch altogether, something that has still never happened. Which team in the world could put on the pitch four so skilled and technical players? Just a few and none of them in the England.

Walcott’s injury could also give an opportunity to one of the most promising youngsters of the team: Serge Gnabry. The German has always demonstrated to be a raw talent and the manager has never hidden his hopes on this player. However, Walcott has been a king of “cap” for him and with the gunners out of the Capital One Cup, the German did not seem to have many chances to shine this season, as the team is fighting for 3 tittles and Wenger prefers more experimented players as Walcott or Rosicky in his position.

That way Gnabry will play more and if he is that world class players that he seems he will consolidate as an important player for big games, and not only a substitution for the last 10 minutes.

The other bright side of Walcott’s injury is that Wenger will probably need to sign a new player, as many of the Arsenal fans wish. They are sick to death of seeing how other Premier League clubs sign high profile players while Arsenal signed worse ones due to budget adjustments.

For the first time in many years Wenger has big money to spend and if he needs a player, he will sign a world class one. No more Gervinho or André Santos. Next signing will be more like Ozil than like those ones. And provided that Bendtner is also injured, the manager knows that the only way to keep on fighting for titles is to spend money and sign players that would allow Arsenal to make a step forward.

Walcott will be ruled out for the season, but his absence will open new opportunities for his team and I bid that Gunners will not miss him as much as it is thought.

Another question is to know if at 24 and being at the top of his professional career he will comeback and be the same good player, as this kind of injuries are so complicated for football players. But Wilshere went through this and he is now againt on his best.

England will also be harmed by Walcott’s absence, as he will need a miracle to be fit for the World Cup and Roy Hogdson’s team cannot substitute him by signing any player.

His image celebrating Arsenal’s win against Tottenham is an evidende that we will always look on the bright side of life. That is what he did on the stretcher and what Arsenal fans should do now.

The winner will not get a trophy to exhibit in the club’s museum. “We are the champions” will not sound in a crowded celebration and the club’s name will not appear in the list of winners of any championship or cup and remain there for the history of football. But from now on three teams will struggle for something more important than any title: the future. Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea need to get the last Champion’s position each of them for different worrying reasons. But for all of them the 4th position will mean more than a FA Cup or a Capital One Cup.

Arsenal seems to have improved their finances and for the first time in some years Arsene Wenger is going to manage a big amount of money to bring the team back to the winner’s way. However, to sign up “top” players is essential be playing de Champions League. It would be hardly improbable for any of the best players to accept signing for a club that misses the greatest team competition of the world. Not getting the forth position could bring the Gunners to a paradoxical situation: they will have the money to sign top players, but those players would be ready to lower their status by playing the Europa League instead of the Champions League. And that doesn’t seem much probable, so achieving the unique still remaining objective for the season is the only chance for Arsenal to overcome their mediocrity.

Eight years has already passed since Arsenal won a trophy last. If they are unable to sign good players, their lack of tittles will continue and another problem will be added: it will be difficult even to compete for the Champions League positions. Arsenal could suffer the same cycle of decline like Liverpool: without playing CL it is more difficult to convince top players to join the club and without good players it is impossible to reach the fourth position in such a competitive league as the Premier.

In the case of Tottenham, the situation is similar, as they have a Top 3 player in Europe right now, which will be improbable for them to keep if the team is not playing CL. Of course, I am talking about Gareth Bale, one of the best players of the world for which many of the greatest teams in Europe will bid in summer. But Bale has just played the Champions League once when Tottenham lost abruptly by 5-0 aggregate against Real Madrid in 2010/2011 season’s quarter-finals.

Photograph: Zimbio.com

Such a gifted player is thought to compete not only for doing a good performance in the world’s best competition, but to try to win it. Above all because Bale was born in Wales and his only opportunity to shine playing international competitions must be with a team, as his national team will hardly clasificate for the World Cup or the Eurocup. So he will not wait any longer to get the European glory and if Tottenham fails in obtaining the Champions League place, it will be complicated for them to retain their best player.

For Chelsea, the up-to-date European champion, not getting the fourth place would be a complete disaster. They own some of the best players of the world and their massive budget do not let room for doubt: Champions League is a must for them. The situation in Stanford Bridges’s team is stormy. With Rafa Benítez complaining about the supporters’ attitude and Abramovich’s decision of calling him “interim manager”, if Arsenal gets closer in the classification the players and the supporters will agitate the environment and that could be really harmful for the blues.

They are still playing for the FA Cup and Europe League tittles and that factor is thought to be always dangerous, as it will not be easy for the players to keep the concentration on league matches.

Photograogh: Getty Images

Tottenham has 54 points, Chelsea 52 and Arsenal 47. But the Gunners will just play league games until the end of the season and the coming matches seem much easier: in the remaining 10 matches, they will only face Everton and United as the hardest games.

Chelsea and Tottenham will play against each other, which will give Arsenal a good chance to regain some points. Also, both teams will face Liverpool and Everton, who have European wishes, and they probably lose points in those games. We must take into account too that both Chelsea and Tottenham are trying to win the FA Cup and the Europe League, which be a factor of distraction in the home competition that will give the Gunners a chance, although being 5 points behind, to get the so needed Champions League position. In any case, it will be hard for the three of them and allevery of the 10 remaining matches will be played as finals.

Many times football fanatics have wondered which one is the best professional football league of the world. Take into account some different aspects of the football, i’ll try to expose why I think that the Premier League is better than the Liga BBVA.

1. The teams
There is no doubt that the two best teams of the world play in Spain. Barcelona and Madrid have demonstrated during the years to be among the best clubs and nowadays their monster budgets allow them to sign up the world greater players. Anyway, there is a deep difference between the two main teams and the others. It is usually said that there are two leagues in Spain: Madrid-Barcelona league to get the championship and the other one, to get the third place. Valencia’s economic problems and Atletico de Madrid’s irregularity during last years has become the Spanish league a copy of the former Scottish one, with only two teams in the real fight for the title and both of them hardly ever loosing a game.
In the other side, England has more candidates for the title. The foreign investment to Manchester City and Chealsea opened the contest to more teams, not only the usual favourites Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal. Also, teams like Tottenham or Everton, although not been in the challenge for the trophy, are able to get point from the best teams fields. English league is more equal and the results use to be tight when the teams named above face each other. Spanish league, although, is decided when Madrid and Barcelona play each other.

The two great teams are so powerful becouse of their gains, utterly bigger because of the unfair distribution of the TV rights. In Spain, Madrid and Barcelona earn 140 million € each, as the third earns 42 millions and the last aproximately 12 millions. In England, the team wich wins more money for the TV rights earns 68 millions a year and the last, 44. This is howTV rights money are the foundation of Madrid and Barcelonas economic strenght, that makes the difference wider with the other teams in Spain, as they have more money to sign up better players. In Engalnd the distribution is more fair.

2. Calendar and schedules

Here is the great difference between both leagues. Spanish leagues organisation is a wide disaster. Schedules are set only 10 days before the games are to be played and the TV companies have the whole authority to establish when the games are played. That is because the games are played one by one, with no two games at the same time and playing games on Monday at 9pm or Saturdays at 10pm. Many supporters considerate that they are mistreated by those ones who role the Spanish football.

Notasdefutbol.com

Furthermore, Spanish league stops for Christmas, when most of the people are on holiday and more children are allowed to attempt a football match. In England, the Boxing Day crowds the stadiums with families and teams play more games than usual for Christmas. With no doubt, England wins the organisational comparison.

3. Attendance and stadiums

This point is closely associated to the point before. In England it is usual to see al the fields crowded. In Spain, it’s more than unusual to see one with the full-attendance. Only Camp Nou and Bernabéu use to be full and many stadiums (Getafe, Mallorca, Vigo, Zaragoza…) hardly ever reach to half-attendance. The reasons are the schedules and the prize. In fact, it’s almost impossible to attend to a match paying less than 50€.
Empty stadiums don’t give a good image of the Spanish league and yet Spanish supporters are not as fond on cheering and singing as the English.

Now, you can comment below and argue which one is the best football league of the world.

Many times we watch a football stadium only the place where the game happens. Sometimes a stadium surprises you with some skills that cannot be watched with a simple look. For example, it’s nice to discover some curiosities about the Stade de Suisse, the stadium of Young Boys in Berna (Switzerland). It was built on the grounds of the former Wankdorf Stadium and opened on july 2005.

It has a capacity of 32,000 spectators and all the seats are covered. It is the second biggest stadium in Switzerland and it was one of the venues in the 2008 Eurocup. Its surface is an artificial turf and it cost 350 million suisse franc. Just below the playing field is one of the largest shopping centers in Switzerland and a parking with over 700 places. The stadium also includes schools, homes, a fitness center, several gyms and some restaurants.

At first sight it may seem a common stadium. But it is not:

Curiosity 1:Ecological stadium

On top of the stadium it’s placed the world largest stadium-integrated photovoltaic installation. It consists of approximately 8,000 Solar modules covering an area of 12,000 m2. In one year it can provide enough electrical energy for approximately 325 average households per year, 1,134,045 kWh in total and a Co2 saving of about 567 tons/year. The electricity from the photovoltaic installation powers the stadium and the neiborghood around the area.

Curiosity 2: The hot seat

In the stadium there is a single red seat, all the others are both black or yellow. It is the first seat installed in te stadium, in 20th january of 2005. There are not tickets available for that seat and it is used to be reserved for a famous visitors or Young Boys former players. The suisse goalkeeper Walter Eich unveiled it.

Curiosity 3: Icy record

The stadium is not only used as a football ground. Many live shows and spectacles have taken place there (Bon Jovi, Ac/Dc, Bruce Springsting or Red Hot Chili Peppers have played there). The Stade de Suisse has the record on attendance to a Ice Hockey match in Europe. The local teams, SC Bern and SC Langnau choose the stadium to play their hundreth match. It was on January 14, 2007, when they filled the Stade de Suisse with 30,076 fans and the tickets were sold out out within 53 hours of tickets going on sale.